This is a little project I stitched a few weeks ago. It is from a coloring book, which is a great source for line drawings to stitch. I stitched it using the stem stitch which turned out kind of jagged but it could also be said it gives it a little ‘texture.’ Hopefully I will master the stem stitch like the ones in this tutorial from Mary Corbet’s Needle N’ Thread , but I must say that I love texture in everything, so I like it!

This tabletop was once used in an outdoor kitchen as a countertop. The owners decided to replace it ended up in the trash – it’s stainless steel! So it’s a good thing that my husband, Don, is great at repurposing wood and other things. He made this table with some 4 x 4’s that he had leftover from another project. It turned out really well.

I recently purchased a new camera to replace my old one that had stopped working much to my dismay. I finally decided to stop borrowing my daughter’s and get another one of my own. This new one is great and I am very happy with it so far. It’s a refurbished Panasonic DMC-FH25. I have enjoyed capturing the early morning light through the leaves of my Japanese Maple.

morning light through the leaves my favorite 🙂

This tomato was really delicious too 🙂 Having a lot of fun photographing the morning.

When our old garden umbrella became ragged and unsightly, we purchased a new one. Not to throw things out too hastily, my husband, Don, put it aside for awhile in case we wanted to replace the canvas someday. It is wooden and is weathered with texture. When we saw Christmas lights on clearance in January, Don came up with the idea to reuse the umbrella in the garden for soft ambient light. He attached the lights to the umbrella with zip ties. Here is the result:

Happy Friday! I have been working on this sampler and am nearing the end. I am really happy with how it is turning out and the pattern is available here. What attracted me to the pattern was the contrast of the yellow background and the colors Alicia Paulson used. She used crewel but I decided to use embroidery floss. I thought I would try it out with these colors, they are kind of warm and cheerful. I think it may hang in my sewing room.

These votive candles look like real little succulent plants. We found them at Pier 1 on clearance and bought them to use in projects. My husband, Don, used some of his reclaimed wood to make candle holders and we filled them with polished rocks. I like that it’s home decor which brings nature inside.

This is a fun container that can be used in many ways. My husband, Don, made this from reclaimed wood. He also painted the front with chalkboard paint and framed it. I like the way it turned out and we find that it’s always a fun creative process to make something new out of something old.

Far Far Away fabric collection by Heather Ross. I also made a coin purse out of the same fabric.

The yellow is cheerful and I love the birch trees as well as the dwarfs’ long underwear hanging on the line! The fox on top left of the coin purse ended up on the front of the Kindle Cover. The great thing about this fabric is that the pattern is large and there are a lot of trees. Snow White doesn’t show up on the Cover that I made because the pattern doesn’t repeat often. It’s like two different fabrics from one bolt.